Re: At the smog station...

["Jim Blair" <carnuck@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

A: I slapped a 2100 Motorcraft on an upside down 2 to 4 bbl adapter to make 
my '73 J4000 pass (you have to get it inspected when you transfer, but not 
each year.) I used the same carb on the '77 304 I put in and it runs fine.


From: Jerry Phillips <jnpvegas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: At the smog station...


So, didn't everyone go up in smoke while waiting in line to get the smog 
inspection?

To register a newly acquired car in the Reno and Las Vegas areas you have to 
have a smog inspection for '68 and newer vehicles.  (oh yeah, there is one, 
I repeat ONE smog inspection station in the Las Vegas valley that can do the 
dyno smog check on a diesel pickup.  But that stupid situation is for 
another rant.)

I made the trip to the DMV to get the VIN checked.  Of course, the VIN on 
the car and the most recent registration did not match, but that only cost 
an hour sitting in the sun.  After computer checks and teletypes it looks 
like the car was not stolen, so I could move on through the process.

I drove by the insurance office to get the policy instated and have the car 
photographed.  No problems there, so I thought I was going to have a 
relatively uneventful registration for a change.

On my way to lunch I see a jiffy smog station with no one in line.  Cool, do 
a u turn and boogie back.  By then, someone has just pulled up, so I wait in 
line while the UJC gets done.  As the guy is almost ready to drive away, I 
see smoke coming out from under the hood, and the smog guy is pointing under 
the car.  I back out and roll back into a spot in the neighboring Lowe's. 
The smog guy says it looked like trannie fluid, but when I wiped a finger in 
a puddle it was not red.  Hmmm.

I raise the hood and spooge is everywhere, but it seems to be concentrated 
around the oil filter area.  While things are cooling down I go in the 7-11 
to buy some paper towels.   And the Slurpee machine is broken.  The day has 
now officially reached Sucked status.

After a wipedown, I cannot see where any trannie fluid would be coming out 
of the cooler or lines, or where the oil filter or mount were cracked or 
split.  Start the engine, and see oil jetting out of the split in the 
plastic line to the aftermarket oil pressure gauge screwed under the dash, 
and the fan is blowing it all over everything.   Idiots!

No tools in the car, those are sitting in the pile in the garage, just 
waiting to be placed in the trunk.  Lowe's sells tools, so I hike over and 
buy the cheapest crescent wrench they carried, along with some number six 
brass machine screws.  I unscrew the compression fitting, rip out the 
plastic line crap, and insert the screw.  Tighten it down, and no more leak. 
Time to continue with the smog check, only there are now three cars in line. 
I wait until the line is gone, and roll up.

The check is done at a couple of specified rpms, and as he held it at 2500 
for the three minutes, the oil burning off the headers was so bad he 
couldn't tell if any visible smoke was coming out of the tailpipes, so I got 
a pass on that.  But it failed the CO at almost twice the limit.  This car 
has some kind of Holley double pumper Street Avenger blah, blah, blah.  Way 
too much carb for what I am going to be doing.

I will spend the weekend rebuilding the Holley 4160 600cfm I was going to 
put on the '57 Chevy and install it.  I already had the Renew kit, so now I 
just have to tie up the dining room table for a day and lock the cats in a 
bedroom.  They like to help.

Everyone have fun, I have work to do.


Jerry Phillips
Las Vegas

'68 AMX 390